Rail-joint



G. STEVER. RAIL JOINT.

(No Model.)

Patgnted Mar. 24, I896.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE STEVER, OF FAIRFIELD, IOIVA.

RAIL-JOINT.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 556,781, dated March24, 1896.

Application filed June 3,1895- Serial No. 551,463. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, GEORGE STEVER, a citizen ofthe United States,residing at Fairfield, in the county of Jefferson and State of Iowa,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Rail-Joints, ofwhich the following is a specification, reference being had therein tothe accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to certain new and useful improvements inrail-joints.

The main object of my improvements is to clamp rails meeting above a tieor other support at points at each side of the tie or support, andconnect such clamped points on the two rails rigidly, and so carry overthe strain upon one rail to the other that the abutting ends of therails will maintain their clamped position and will aid in supportingthe other. In other words, I provide a straddle-tie joint that will giveas much or more strength to the rail-joint as there is in the body ofthe rails themselves. Other peculiarities will be hereinafter describedand claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, on which like reference-letters indicatecorresponding parts, Figure 1 represents a View of myrail from theinside of a pair of abutting rails; Fig. 2, a similar view from theoutside of the rails; Fig. 3, a section on the line as wof Fig. 1; Fig.4., a perspective View of the inner face of the inside member of thejoint, and Fig. 5 a plan view of the truss footing at one end of thejoint.

This rail-joint is designed especially for rails that meet upon a tie orother support as distinguished from those that meet at a point betweensaid ties or supports.

The letter A represents one rail and the letter A ameeting rail ofstreet-railway or other style, which meet above the tie B or othersupport for the joint. The ties O 0 support the rails A and A,respectively, on each side of the joint. In the spaces between the tieBand the adjacent ties C O are located the clamping-jaws D that dropbelow the rail and extend under it, as shown in Figs. 3 and 4, to clampthe base. These jaws are in duplicate and opposite each other on the tworails, as shown in Fig. 3, the jaws D being connected by bolts with thejaws D through the holes indicated. A grip is thus exerted upon eachrail at a distance from the meeting ends.

order to carry the stress of traific from one pair of j aw-clamps D D tothe other pair of clamps D D on the opposite side of the tie or supportB, I provide a truss-reinforcement It 11. connecting the jaws D D andDD, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, and located above the top of the tie orsupport B. lhe extensions F from each end of the truss portions serve asfishplates and lengthen the rail-joint, as indicated. These ends arepreferably extended sufficiently and flanged down over the base to restupon the adjacent ties G G and assist in carrying the weight back tothese ties from the joint. In other words, each rail is securely clampedat a distance from the meet ing point, and these clamps are rigidlyconnected by a bridge-like truss that carries the stress of the weightfrom one clamp to the other and also to the ties adjacent to the jointtie or support. More or less of the stress is thus taken off from thetie B, and the metal at the meeting point of the rails is proportionedto give as much or more strength at this point as in the body of therails themselves.

The two members of the rail-joint are bolted in the usual manner, asindicated, and are fitted at their upper edges to the overhangingflanges of the rail-tread,as shown in Fig. 3.

It has been found that rails that have been connected by otherrail-joints have worked up and down upon the tie B or other support atthe joint, so that the base has become thinned and worn awayby thisup-and-down motion caused by the passage of the wheels. It will beobserved that my joint can be used upon these old rails as well as uponnew rails, since the clamped portions are at a distance from the meetingends and where the railbase is not worn. This is an important featureand one of the special objects of my invention.

In street-railways where the inner flange, a, Fig. 3, is subject toheavy traffic the ends of this flange are often broken away at the jointin ordinary forms. I provide an extension 6 from the face of the innermember, E, that supports the ends of these flanges on the meeting rails,as indicated in Figs. 1 and 3.

This extension or shelf is integral with the truss portion of the rail-joint, as shown. The fish-plate portion is also preferably integral withthe truss portion on each side, so that each member of the rail-jointforms one integral piece with the two correspondingjaws. The rail-jointcomplete thus consists of but two members besides the bolt connections.

Referring to the drawings, the outer ends of the jaw-clamps endsubstantially opposite the outer ends of the truss portions in the twomembers. This construction equalizes and balances the strain upon theclamp and truss portions of the members when the bolts are drawing therail-joint to its seated position that is, the tendency of the upperbolts to draw the joint out of shape is resisted by the jaws of theclamps, and the same tendency of the bolts through the jaws is balancedby the truss portions of the members.

Referring to Fig. 5, it will be seen thatthe fish-plate extension F ofthe truss portion E is flared out laterally to form a footing G- uponthe ties O (l for the ends of the truss E. The truss portion E E of eachmember is in a vertical plane to resist the weight, and the footportions G are horizontally located to receive the weight and brace therail-joint upright. Not only then are the ends of the rails firmlyclamped and the joint made as strong or stronger than in the body of therails themselves, but the rails and the joint are braced to withstandthe torsion or twisting effect due to traffic thereon. Furthermore, thebracing, flanges G are located at the ends of the railjoint and not uponthe j oint-tie B. The truss portion E spanning the center tie andrigidly connecting the clamped portions of the rails at the jaws isbraced and supported by these foot-flanges and fishplate extensions.

It will be seen from Figs. 1 and 2 that the truss tapers upward towardthe center and leaves substantially the same amount of metal diagonallyacross the truss and jaw on the line 1 11 as at the center. The rigidityof the joint between the jaws is thus secured, while the clamping effecttapers olf beyond the truss, since the points of grip-release of the topflange and bottom flange of the rail are not directly opposite eachother. The effect of this is to allow a certain amount of spring in therail as soon as the base passes the jaw at each end, which spring beginsat the head or top of the rail at a point nearer the ends than at thebase. The practical result of this is to prevent the rail receiving thegrip of the joining members in one vertical plane, concentratingthestress in that plane and thereby breaking the rail. I avoid thisdifficulty by distributing the gripping effect along a considerabledistance at the base of the rail, while taking in a smaller portionnearer the head of the rail at the center of the joint. Thus in thefigures the flange e receives the stress on the end flanges a of therail and carries it down in both directions through the truss to thejaw-clamps and the footings G. On the other side of the joint the trussportion E lits up tightly against the underside of the tread for a shortdistance in the center, from which the stress of traffic is carried indiverging lines to the ties C C or to the base of the rails, as the casemay be.

I do not limit myself to the footings G or for the same as resting onthe ties, as the said ties or supports may be a greater distance fromthe meeting rails than the rail-joint extends.

In some old constructions the meeting ends of the rails rest in a chairor channeled or recessed bracket upon the tie 13. My joint is readilyadapted to this construc tion by cut ting out the projecting portion ofthe flange over the tie 13 back to or beyond the base of the rail, asindicated in Figs. 2 and by the line The amount of metal thus cut awayat the flange may be added to the truss portion in the middle, asindicated in Fig. 1), to maintain the same amount of metal as before, ifit be thought desirable.

Thus it will be seen that my form of rail. joint forms practically acontinuous girder and brings no more and practically less stress uponthe tie 13 than upon the adjacent ties O O and others beneath the bodyof the rails; also, that while gripping the rail rig idly at the baseand top flange of the meet ing ends the grip is diminished gradually ateach side of the center of the joint to retain. a certain amount ofspring to the tread, as herein described. 1 urthermore, the projectin gflanges a are supported at their ends and the torsional effect isresisted by the footings G above described.

\Vhile I have shown and described this joint as applied to astreet-railway rail, it will be understood that I do not confine myselfto the particular style of rail herein shown, as my invention can beadapted to suit any style of rail.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, anddesire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The combination with rails meeting above a support or tie, of arail-joint comprising a truss portion fitting against the under side ofthe top flange or head at the joint and straddling said center supportor tie, and provided with a depending j aw-clamp embracing the base ofthe rail at each side of said support and integral with said trussportion, a matching member on the opposite side of the rails andfZtSiJGl'llllg-bOltS below and above the rail-base to connect saidmembers and rails rigidly.

2. The combination with rails meeting above a support or tic, of arail-joint eomprising a truss portion fitting against the under side ofthe top flange or head at the joint and straddling said center supportor tie, and provided with a depending j aw-clamp embracing the base ofthe rail at each side of said support, and integral with said trussportion, and having also an integral fishplate extension beyond thetruss portion and jaw-clamps, and a matching member on the other side ofthe rails having matching clamps and fish-plate extensions, andfastening-bolts above and below said rail-base.

3. The combination with rails meeting upon a support, of a rail-jointcomprising a truss portion fitting against and under the top flange orhead of the rails at and near their meeting point, and divergingdownward toward separate j aw-clamps for the base of the rail on eachside of said support, the truss IO portion thus extending above saidsupport

